Caliper style brakes include one or more stators having friction plates adhered thereto. These stators selectively engage a rotor positioned adjacent to the stator, or between opposing stators, to cause a braking force to be applied. In many cases the stators are caused to move by one or more pistons that are actuated upon introduction of a pressurized fluid, such as oil.
Prior art piston operated braking systems suffer from several drawbacks due to inadequate or inefficient fluid transmission arrangements within the brake housing. Typically, in the case of dual-piston caliper brakes, multiple input and output ports are required to supply pressurized brake fluid to the piston cavities and to allow for the bleeding of air from both piston cavities. The input and output ports have conventionally been positioned on opposite sides of the caliper brake to provide positive bleeding to both piston cavities. If the input and output ports of a conventional bleed system were placed on a common side of the brake, the piston on the opposite side of the brake would not be adequately bled and air would remain in the piston cavity. As a result, it has been necessary in conventional caliper brakes that the ports are placed on opposite sides of the brake. However, having ports on both sides of the caliper brake makes mounting the brake on a vehicle difficult because access to both sides of the brake's housing is necessary to perform the bleeding. In addition, conventional bleed systems require extensive machining, which increases the time and cost involved in manufacturing the brakes.
In view of these problems, it is evident that the need exists for a caliper brake with an improved bleed system that may provide positive bleeding to both piston cavities while making mounting the brake easier.